FAMILIAR FINISH AS USD RALLIES FOR VICTORY

TULSA, Okla. 
For the third straight contest, USD fell behind in a key men’s soccer match. Not to worry, the Toreros had their foes right where they wanted.

USD used second-half goals by Conor McFadden and Connor Brandt to rally past the University of Tulsa 2-1 in the third round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.

McFadden and Brandt scored the goals within a five-minute, second-half span to rally the Toreros before 1,022 at Tulsa’s Soccer and Track Stadium.

The Toreros (14-8) advance to the Elite 8 and travel east to play Georgetown at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Tulsa (14-6-1) was strong in the first 45 minutes and had chances to go up 2-0 or even 3-0 with the right breaks. However, USD was by far the better team in the second half.

Tulsa’s Cristian Mata staked the Hurricane to a 1-0 lead 12 minutes into the competition off a pass from his brother, Omar.

However, McFadden took over at the 62-minute mark of the second half. He scored unassisted into the left corner of the net amid a crowd of players.

Almost five minutes later, Brandt took a Patrick Wallen pass and kicked it over Hurricane goal keeper Mark Pais’ head from 25 yards out into an open net for the 2-1 lead.

Tulsa made a furious rally in the last 10 minutes to attempt a tie. The Hurricane booted shot after shot that was kicked or headed away by Toreros’ defenders. USD goalkeeper Drew Ilijevski had four saves.

“It was kind of unfortunate to go down 1-nil,” Brandt said of the first half deficit. “But in the first round, we were down to (Cal State) Northridge … and the same with UCLA (in the second round). We’re used to being behind.”

Of the winning goal, Brandt was in the perfect position only if his teammates saw him.

“I just saw the ball go over the top and I yelled to Patrick Wallen; I don’t even think he saw me,” Brandt said. “He flicked it over and I got it over the goalkeeper and into the net.”

USD coach Seamus McFadden had nothing but praise for both teams.

“They’re a very good team. I was very impressed with them,” McFadden said of Tulsa. “Their forward, that (Cristian) Mata kid, is as good a forward as I’ve seen in the country.”

Tulsa’s Mata brothers were a good combination in the first 12 minutes.

“Omar played a perfect ball (to me) and I just finished it,” Cristian said of his goal.

“I just flipped it over the top and he got through and scored,” Omar added. “They (USD) did a great job, especially in the second half. They made it even tougher for us.”